“You know what we have to do,” Maxim replied. His solemn tone made goosebumps break out on Dimitri’s arms.
“No,” Dimitri said. “No. I won’t even consider it.”
“We made a vow,” Maxim reminded him.
Dimitri jerked to his feet and stalked toward the tall windows that faced the mountains. The sun had set beyond the peaks, and a purple glow had settled over the mountains sloping toward the cabin.
“This is the best place for it. Draw the men here and end it,” Maxim said, his thoughts miles ahead, already planning the battle.
“And Elena?” Dimitri asked.
“We will take the little czarina far away,” Nicholas said. “Or, I should say, you will. And we’ll find a Jane Doe at the morgue to put in her place. When the reports come in, the Kremlin will assume she was caught in the crossfire and killed. She can live the rest of her life quietly out of sight, under a different name—”
“And what? Live some quiet little life in some town, wearing different contacts, always dying her hair? That’s not living. And I won’t leave you to fight on your own. We agreed we would take her public, give her a chance to have a life and never fear anyone coming after her.”
“That was before we knew Vladimir would come after her, he’s too high up in the ranks to make the mistake of leaving her alive. He’ll do anything he can to kill her. This is the only way. If we survive the fight, then she’ll be safe enough for long enough to get her to New York before the United Nations.”
Dimitri had the urge to break everything in sight. How could his friends just agree to put themselves in mortal danger and force him to flee with Elena?
“Then you find another man willing to die for her, and he can take her and you can make a noble last stand with us if it comes to it,” Nicholas said. He had risen from his chair and paced halfway toward Dimitri.
This time it was Leo who spoke. “We can’t outrun them forever. Vladimir won’t be as easy to kill as Viktor. You caught Viktor off guard. He didn’t know what he was dealing with. But Vladimir will have put the pieces together by now and he’ll bring an army with him.”
The men he’d considered his brothers had turned against him. They wanted to throw their lives away so he could flee like a coward.
“My father would never have turned his back on his men,” Dimitri shot back.
“Didn’t he?” Maxim and Leo got to their feet as well. “Your father abandoned his men to avenge your mother. Don’t preach to us about his duty to the cause.”
That cut too deep. His father had focused on revenge, and never once did he think about his men or his son. But because it was the truth did not make it easy to accept. Far from it. He grabbed the car keys on the counter and headed for the front door. He had to think, had to do something. He had to . . . he honestly didn’t know what.
Elena was almost ready to step into the shower when she heard the slam of a distant door. She slipped on a bathrobe and tiptoed into the hallway, pausing in the doorway that led to the great room. Dimitri’s friends were speaking softly and urgently in Russian, and she picked out only a few fragments she recognized.
“Must be done . . . plan for it . . . he will come around,” Leo said.
“The little czarina . . . she will be fine. A quiet life . . . settle him down,” Nicholas said.
“It’s up to us,” Maxim said. “We make the plans tonight without him. Once he gets back, we’ll tell him what he has to do and he’ll fall in line.”
A chill snaked up her spine. Dimitri was the one who had left? Why? Was he coming back? Panic overwhelmed her, and she sank back against the wall, clutching her chest.
He was coming back. He wouldn’t leave her. But even if he did, she had to go on alone. She was strong enough. She had to be. Too many people depended on her now for fear to rule her life another second.
She pushed away from the wall, got control of her breathing, and stepped into the great room, trying not to think about the fact that she had only a bathrobe on.
“Where is Dimitri?”
Guilt showed on all their faces before they masked it with polite innocence.
“He needed some air,” Leo hedged.
“A lot of air,” Nicholas added.
“What must be done? What are you planning?” Elena kept her tone calm but commanding. “And if you say nothing, I will no longer trust any of you, and I’ll second-guess every single thing you ask of me from now on.” She was bluffing—she had no real power over these men, and they had to know it—but it was worth trying.
Maxim gave Leo the barest hint of a nod.
“Men are coming for you,” Leo said.
She clutched the bathrobe tighter around her neck. “How many?”
“We don’t know,” Leo admitted. “Likely too many.”
“When will they be here?”
“It depends on when they find you. I don’t believe they know where you went after leaving Malibu. But they won’t stop looking until we give them a reason to stop,” Leo explained. He dragged a hand through his dark-blond hair and frowned.
“You want to use me as bait?” she guessed.
“Yes. But when they come, we would be sure you would be long gone with Dimitri,” Maxim said.
In a burst of sudden clarity, she understood why Dimitri had been angry enough to leave the house. They wanted him to turn tail and run.
“Dimitri doesn’t want to do this, does he?”
“No,” Maxim said. “He won’t put you in danger, nor will he abandon us to fight where we will be heavily outmanned. But we all agreed long ago to give our lives to this fight.”
Elena was silent a long moment. “Dimitri said you were all raised in
